Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra to perform new jazz suite at free outdoor concert

Photo by Greg MilesIrvin Mayfield leads the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in a free concert on Saturday, May 15.The Irvin Mayfield brand continues to expand. The jazz trumpeter’s resume includes nightclub proprietor, record label chief, educator and member of various local — and one very prestigious national — boards.

But this week, he focused on his primary occupation: That of a musician and composer, scrambling to finish “The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite” on a tight deadline.

On Saturday, May15 at 5 p.m., Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra premiere the 90-minute jazz suite during a free outdoor concert in Washington Square Park. WWOZ 90.7-FM will broadcast the concert live.

The University of New Orleans, which sits at the opposite end of Elysian Fields Avenue from the park, commissioned the piece via a grant program. The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra performs an excerpt during tonight’s UNO graduation ceremony, for which Mayfield is the commencement speaker.

In November, NOJO is booked at Carnegie Hall in New York. A smattering of upcoming dates — including June 13 at the Hollywood Bowl during the Playboy Jazz Festival, and July 2 at the Essence Music Festival in the Superdome — is dubbed the “Road to Carnegie Hall.” Each show features “The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite.”

In ancient mythology, “Elysian Fields” is paradise. In New Orleans, Elysian Fields stretches from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. Mayfield intends his “Elysian Fields Jazz Suite” as a tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, including his father, Irvin Mayfield Sr., whose body was found along Elysian Fields.

“If I had to sum it up, it’ll go from Egypt to Greece to Paris to New Orleans to Haiti to Cuba. It’s everything about what New Orleans is that is hard to say in words, that you can say in an hour and a half with music.”

“I try to show what is unique about them,” he said. “This piece would sound different if another band played it.”

NOJO’s 2009 CD “Book One” won a Grammy as the best large jazz ensemble album. “I did the arrangements, but it features the guys,” Mayfield said. “They carried it. All these guys who have been out here for a long time deserve that serious level of recognition.”

At 32, Mayfield oversees a multifaceted arts empire. Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, his stylish nightclub in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, recently celebrated a successful first year with an entertainment roster ranging from traditional jazz drummer Bob French to burlesque.

His latest venture, Poorman Mayfield Music, has released its first CD. Nineteen-year-old Cajun/country fiddle player and singer Amanda Shaw’s “Good Southern Girl” sold 470 copies in the Jazz Fest’s record tent, which, Mayfield notes, made it the best-selling CD on the festival grounds.

“I’m more excited by that,” he said, “than winning a Grammy. Everybody told me I was crazy for wanting to start a label. Having that record do what it did reaffirms the idea that there should be an industry developed down here for what’s important.”

In February, the Senate finally confirmed Mayfield’s appointment to the National Council on the Arts, the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Arts. Among other duties, the board’s 14 members advise the NEA chairman on how to disburse $170 million in federal grants for arts programs, and recommend recipients for the presidential National Medal of Arts.

“I’ve been on boards (in New Orleans), like the library and redevelopment,” Mayfield said. “But this is a whole other world at a whole other level. It’s a huge honor, no doubt.”

Mayfield was initially nominated in the last year of George W. Bush’s presidency. He was vetted by the FBI, but his confirmation stalled in the Senate. President Barack Obama re-nominated him. In March, Mayfield was sworn in at his first board meeting in Washington, D.C.

“Not many people get nominated for the same position by two different presidents from two different parties. A lot of people worked to make that happen,” he said. “I’m learning a lot about Washington. I’m trying to advocate for the things I care about and not get caught up in the politics.”

For this weekend’s concert, a stage is being erected in Washington Square Park for what Mayfield hopes is a presentation on par with the Newport Jazz Festival. Ambient city noise — sirens, horns on the river, the shouts of children — will play a part in the orchestra’s engagement with its hometown.

“We’re bringing this show to Carnegie Hall, all these very prestigious places,” Mayfield said. “But I want my people at home to own this music. At the end of the day, it’s for them. And these are their musicians."

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA

What: A free concert to premiere "The Elysian Fields Jazz Suite," a new composition by trumpeter and NOJO artistic director Irvin Mayfield.